Scorn, sarcasm in Pakistani papers on Musharraf resignation

Islamabad, Aug 19 (IANS) Some headlines were sarcastic, some frankly scornful and others attempted to look ahead as Pakistan’s papers Monday devoted reams of newsprint to the dramatic resignation of Pervez Musharraf as president after nine years. The strongly worded headline in The New headline read: “Mush quits with tail between his legs”.

Many Urdu newspapers were equally harsh with headlines like “Musharraf surrenders”, “Win for people”, “The party is over” and “The wine glass has broken”.

The Daily Times headline was “Going, Going, Gone”. It also had a cartoon depicting cinema screen with “The End”. The Nation simply said “Out without a fight”.

The Dawn attempted to look ahead with its headline “Beyond Musharraf”.

The resignation of the president who had taken power in a bloodless coup in October 1999 when he had overthrown the elected government of Nawaz Sharif seemed to be the only news. There were editorials, articles and detailed analyses of his nine-year rule.

There were several pictures from different cities with people dancing, firing in the air and distributing sweets in jubilation.

But there was the other side as well.

According to a report in the daily Khabrain, Marvi Memon, a woman parliamentarian known to be very close to Musharraf, started crying when a reporter asked her for her views on the resignation. A day earlier, she had said in a television programme that the president would never quit and would fight till the end.

In southern Punjab, a retired army officer who was a staunch supporter of Musharraf reportedly pushed his television set from the table when he announced the decision during a televised address to the nation.

There was also some focus on who would be the next president. The names doing the rounds were National Assembly Speaker Fehmida Mirza, Asif Ali Zardari’s sister Faryal Talpur, former defence minister Aftab Shaaban Mirani, Awami National Party chief Asfandyar Wali Khan, Baloch nationalist leader Ataullah Mengal and former Supreme Court judge Saeeduzzaman Sidiqui.